Arab Israli Conflict Essay Research Paper The — страница 2

that the British government would allow the Jews to establish a homeland in the holy land of Palestine. This eventually caused the founding of the Jewish state of Israel and also set into motion the bitter Arab-Israeli wars and conflicts. At first a partition was set up that split Palestine between the Jews and the Arabs. However, in 1948 the Jewish people declared independence and they called their state Israel. One of the main reasons for the world accepting this Jewish state was the hardships that the Jewish people faced in World War II at the hands of Hitler. 1948 also marks the time of the first war between the Arabs and the Israelis. It was mostly terrorist attacks involved in this war, but soon the conflict escalated. In 1956 Gamal Abdel Nasser, president of Egypt,

nationalized the Suez Canal. It cut off Israeli shipping and France and Britian had paid for most of it so they were all angry. The three countries then attacked Egypt. France and Britain attacked in the air and Israel on the ground. Soon they were told to leave by the United Nations. So Egypt retained control of the Suez Canal. This was closed to Israeli ships, so they were forced to use the Strait of Tiran to continue their shipping. However in 1967 Egypt closed the Strait of Tiran and would allow any Israelis through. This cut off Israeli shipping all together. This action caused another war Between the Jews and the Egyptians. It began in 1967 and only lasted for six days, thereby gaining its name, the six day war. The Israelis attacked and were so well led that in six days

they had completely defeated the Egyptians. They took many territories from the Egyptians and the surrounding Arab countries. They took the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights. These territiories were known as the occupied territories. Later on the United Nations passes several resolutions that do not allow Israel to keep the occupied territories. Before this war began, in 1964, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) was formed. It was led by Yassir Arafat. It was an umbrella group that supported the Palestinians right to a nation of their own. They were also on the side of Egypt in the wars against Israel because they felt that the Israelis kicked the Palestinians out of Israel when the country began. The Arabs now greatly supported Egypt

and Nasser. However Nasser died in 1970 and his vice president took Anwar al-Sadat took over as president. He quickly took action by sending many soviets out of Egypt. The Arabs greatly supported him because it seemed he did not want to be pushed around. Then in 1973 on Yom Kippur, a Jewish holy day, he led an attack on the Jews that was the strongest showing of an Arab army yet. Although the war ended in a stalemate, it gave the Arabs confidence that their forces were getting better. After the Yom Kippur war the Arabs were trying to mount enough support so that they could a Palestinian nation could be established. The PLO was now growing and they were supported by almost all of the Arab nations. Then in 1974 Yassir Arafat took the Palestinians case before the United Nations. He

asked them for a Palestinian homeland in the occupied territories. The United Nations agreed with his plea and released UN resolution 242. This resolution stated that the United Nations supports the Palestinians right to an independent nation. The main problem with this was that Israel hated the Palestinians and did not recognize them as a people. They hated them because of their terrorist acts throughout the 1970s. The one act that sticks in everyone s mind is the killing of eleven Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972 by a Palestinian terrorist group called Black September. For the years following the UN s resolution the United States was trying to mediate an agreement between Israel and Egypt to stop the wars and begin the peace process. In 1979 an agreement was

finally reached. It was called the Egyptian-Israeli peace agreement. The two parties agreed to end the state of war and respect each other as independent nations. They also established that Israel got free use of the Suez Canal, Egypt got back the Sinai Peninsula, and the Strait of Tiran was made international territory. Also included in the treaty was an agreement that within a year the two parties would have decided on how to implement Palestinian self-rule. However, this part of the treaty was never carried out. Israel did not want to give up its territory to the Palestinians. Despite that, the treaty was signed and peace began between the Egyptians and the Israelis. However the problems had just begun between the Palestinians and the Israelis. In 1982 the Israelis invaded